A study of anti-cancer effects of Funalia trogii in vitro and in vivo

Extracts of natural products have been used for many years for health benefits. We report on an in vitro and in vivo study into the anti-tumour efficacy of an aqueous extract of the mycelial form of basidiomycete, Funalia trogii. A variety of biological assays were used to show that a 4 h exposure of HT29, LNCaP, PC3, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 tumour cells to extract (0.5-5.0 mg/ml) resulted in significant cytotoxicity. In a clonogenic assay, IC₅₀ values were found to range from 0.4-0.72 mg/ml; exposing fibroblast cells to the extract resulted in no cell kill. The extract resulted in significant cell kill in proliferating endothelial cells but had no toxicity to quiescent cells, this is useful in targeting tumour tissue since endothelial cells in tumours proliferate more rapidly that those found in other parts of the body. When tumours grown in immune compromised mice were injected intratumourally with extract (5 mg/ml twice a week for two weeks), a 9 day tumour growth delay was observed. The results indicate that the mycelial extract of F. trogii has a promising anti-tumour property.